Method and device for setting priority of data transmission

ABSTRACT

A method and a device for setting priority of data transmission are provided. A terminal, which is set to transmit low priority data to a network, transmits a connection request to the network in order to transmit normal-priority data, and receives and stores priority information on data transmission from the network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to data transmission prioritization methodand apparatus and, in particular, to a method and apparatus of allowinga terminal configured for low priority data transmission to transmitnormal priority data.

BACKGROUND ART

A machine type communication terminal can be categorized into a lowpriority terminal as compared to the normal terminal such as smartphoneaccording to the configuration of the operator. If network overloadoccurs, the data generated by the low priority terminals are classifiedinto low priority data entirely.

Accordingly, if a low priority terminal attempts network connection ordata transmission, the network sets a backoff timer for thecorresponding terminal and allows, when the backoff timer expires, theterminal to connect to the network or transmit data. That is, when thenetwork overload occurs, the network restricts the attachment or datatransmission of the low priority terminal first.

The data transmission of the low priority terminal is restricted toemergency call placement only. In order to place the emergency call, theterminal or the network has to be able to recognize the emergency call.That is, if the user places an emergency call, the modem of the terminalidentifies the emergency call and sends the network an explicitemergency call indicator. Accordingly, the network can recognize theemergency call request from the terminal and allows the emergency callto be made.

Meanwhile, there may be a case where the low priority terminal attemptsto transmit to the network a normal priority data which is generated inresponse to a request of an application but not in an emergency callsituation. Such a situation is likely to occur at a machine typeterminal.

A vending machine is classified into a low priority terminal whichreports sales figures to the management server 12 times a day. The salesreport transmitted by the vending machine is classified into lowpriority data and thus a backoff timer is set in the network overloadsituation. However, it is necessary to classify the information on thegoods out of stock or equal to or less than a predetermined amount intonormal priority data such that the network allows for the delivery ofthis normal priority data.

However, the aforementioned current technology cannot transmit thenormal priority data of the low priority terminal with the exception ofthe emergency call. That is, the low priority terminal does not knowwhether it is allowed for transmitting normal priority data and, eventhough the normal data transmission is allowed, there is no way ofindicating whether the transmission data has low or normal priority.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention has been conceived to solve the above problem andaims to provide a method and apparatus for a low priority terminal togenerate and transmit normal priority data to the network.

Solution to Problem

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method fortransmitting normal priority data at a terminal configured to transmitlow priority data to a network includes transmitting a connectionrequest to the network, receiving priority information for datatransmission from the network, and storing the received priorityinformation.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method forprocessing normal priority data received from a terminal configured totransmit low priority data includes receiving a connection request fromthe terminal, checking priority information on data transmission of theterminal based on one of subscriber information of the terminal and anoperator policy in response to the connection request, and transmittingthe checked priority information to the terminal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor transmitting normal priority data, the apparatus being included in aterminal configured to transmit low priority data to a network includesa radio communication unit which transmits and receives messages anddata to and from the network, a control unit which controls transmittinga connection request to the network and receiving priority informationfor data transmission from the network, and a storage unit which storethe received priority information.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, anapparatus for processing normal priority data received from a terminalconfigured to transmit low priority data includes an interface unitwhich transmits and receives messages and data to and from the terminaland a control unit which controls receiving a connection request fromthe terminal, checks priority information on data transmission of theterminal based on one of subscriber information of the terminal and anoperator policy in response to the connection request, and controlstransmitting the checked priority information to the terminal.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The data transmission prioritization method and apparatus of the presentinvention is advantageous in terms of allowing a terminal configured forlow priority data transmission to transmit normal priority data in sucha way of determining, when normal priority data occurs, whether thenormal priority connection is available and handling the normal prioritydata depending on the determination result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a NAS configuration Management Object(NAS configuration MO) configured in the terminal through OMA-DM;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for an MME to configureaccess priority information to the terminal;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a format the access priorityinformation per UE which is stored in the MME according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the UE according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a procedure for the PCRF toconfigure access priority information to the UE;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the bearer context of the UE according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a format of a packet filter includingthe access priority information according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the UE to transmitdata based on the access priority information according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the network toprocess the message transmitted by the UE based on the access priorityinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the HSS according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an APN-configuration AVP defined newlyin the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the MME toprocessing the overriding request of the UE;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the UE to operatedepending on the response received from the network in reply to theoverriding request;

FIG. 14 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a normal priority datatransmission in the state that the UE has established a low priority PDNconnection with the network;

FIG. 15 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a procedure for the UE toestablish a new PDN connection with the network for transmitting normalpriority data;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a datatransmission apparatus, i.e. UE, according to the present invention; and

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a dataprocessing apparatus, i.e. MME of network entities, according to thepresent inventions.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the accompanying drawings in detail. Detailed descriptionof well-known functions and structures incorporated herein may beomitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention.Further, the following terms are defined in consideration of thefunctionality in the present invention, and may vary according to theintention of a user or an operator, usage, etc. Therefore, thedefinition should be made on the basis of the overall content of thepresent specification.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are directed to theEvolved Packet System (EPS), it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that the present invention can be applied even to othercommunication systems having the similar technical background andchannel format, with a slight modification, without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

In the communication system to which the present invention is applied,the low priority terminal (hereinafter, referred to as just ‘terminal’)performing machine-type communication and transmitting low priority datato the network receives priority information transmitted by the networkfor use in transmission of normal priority data and transmits normalpriority data to the network based on the priority information.

The priority information transmitted from the network to the terminalmay be configuration information per PDN, EPS bearer, or IP flow of theterminal. Here, one PDN connection may be made up of a plurality of EPSbearers, and one EPS bearer may be made up of a plurality of IP flows.

The terminal sends the network an Attach Request or data transmissionrequest based on the priority information configured as above, and thenetwork determines whether to accept or reject the request from theterminal based on the priority information. Descriptions are made of theoperations of the terminal and network according to the presentinvention hereinafter.

In the first embodiment of configuring access priority information tothe terminal per PDN connection, the network may configure the accesspriority information to the terminal through OMA-DM. In detail, the homenetwork of the terminal may configure the access priority to theterminal per PDN connection through OMA-DM.

It is possible to check the access priority information configured tothe terminal depending on whether the PDN connection informationtransmitted from the network to the terminal includes a low priorityindicator. It is also possible to determine the priority by checkingwhether the PDN connection information includes a low priority indicatoror a normal priority indicator.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a NAS configuration Management Object(NAS configuration MO) configured in the terminal through OMA-DM.

Referring to FIG. 1, “NAS_SignalingPriority_accesspriority” 100 denotesa leaf indicating the access priority of the terminal. If there is theleaf 100 in the message received through OMA-DM, the terminal maydetermine whether to access the network configuration value of the leaf100.

For example, if APN 110 is set to internet and Priority 120 is set tolow priority indicator in FIG. 1, the terminal requests for connectionto Internet through a PDN with low priority. In another example, if APN110 is set to machine and Priority 120 is set to normal priorityindicator or non-low priority indicator, the terminal requests for amachine PDN for connection with normal priority. The expressions such asinternet and low priority indicator may be stored in various types oftexts or numbers.

In another embodiment where the network configures the access priorityinformation to the terminal per PDN, it is possible for a network entitysuch as Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Policy and Charging RulesFunction (PCRF) to configure the access priority information in responseto the Attach Request of the terminal.

In the second embodiment for the network to configure the accesspriority information to the terminal per PDN connection, the MME maydetermine the access priority information according to the subscriptiondata and/or operator policy in response to the Attach or PDNconnectivity Request message from the terminal.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for an MME to configureaccess priority information to the terminal.

Referring to FIG. 2, a User Equipment (UE) sends an MME a PDNConnectivity Request via an evolved Node B (eNodeB) at step 210. The MMEchecks the access priority information of the UE based on APN from whichthe Attach Request is transmitted at step 215. The access priorityinformation is checked based on the subscriber information of the UEand/or operator policy, and the subscription information may be storedin HSS in the initial attach of the UE and the preconfigured operatorpolicy may be stored in the MME in advance.

In order to clarify of the subject matter of the present invention, thesession establishment procedure between the MME and PDN Gateway (GW) viaServing Gateway (GW) and the IP-CAN establishment procedure between MMEand PCRF that are performed in compliance with well-known technologiesare omitted in drawings and detailed description.

The MME stores the access priority information determined based on thesubscriber information and/or operator policy in the form of UE contextand sends the UE a Bearer Setup Request and PDN Connection Informationincluding the access priority information at step 220.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a format the access priorityinformation per UE which is stored in the MME according to an embodimentof the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the context includes theaccess priority field 310 as a part of each PDN connectivity informationof the UE in the context to indicate the network access allowance forthe low priority UE as denoted by reference number 320.

Returning to FIG. 2, if an RRC Connection Reconfiguration messageincluding the access priority information is received from the eNodeB atstep 225, the UE sends the eNodeB an RRC Connection ReconfigurationComplete message at step 230 and stores the access priority informationas the context of the established PDN connection at step 240. TheneNodeB sends the MME a Bearer Setup Response to the MME at step 235.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the UE according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, an access priority field 410 is includedin the context as a part of the PDN connectivity information of the UE,and it corresponds to the access priority field 310 of the contextstored in the MME as shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, the access priorityfield 410 indicates network access allowance for the low priority UE asdenoted by reference number 420.

Returning to FIG. 2, after completing the receipt of the access priorityinformation from the MME, the UE enters the idle mode at step 245.

In the third embodiment for the network to configure the access priorityinformation to the UE per PDN, a PCRF may determine the access prioritybased on the subscriber information of the UE and/or the operator policyin response to the IP-CAN Session Establishment or Modification Requestfrom the UE.

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a procedure for the PCRF toconfigure access priority information to the UE.

Referring to FIG. 5, the UE sends the MME a PDN Connectivity Request viathe eNodeB at step 510. Unlike the embodiment of FIG. 2, the MME sendsthe Serving GW (SGW) a Create Session Request as in the legacy PDNConnection and the SGW forwards the Create Session Request to the PDN GW(PGW) at step 515. The PGW sends the PCRF an IP-CAN SessionEstablishment Request to acquire a PDN connection policy at step 520.

The PCRF checks the access priority information of the UE based on theAPN with the Attach Request is transmitted at step 525. The accesspriority information is checked based on the subscriber information ofthe UE and/or the operator policy, the subscriber information may bestored in the HSS in the initial attach of the UE, and the operatorpolicy information may be stored in the PCRF in advance.

The PCRF sends the PGW the PDN Connectivity Information including thedetermined access priority information at step 530, and the PGW sendsthe SGW a Create Session Response including the access priorityinformation at step 535. The SGW forwards the Create Session Response tothe MME.

The MME sends the eNodeB a Bearer Setup Request and PDN connectivityinformation at step 540, the eNodeB sends the UE an RRC ConnectionReconfiguration including the access priority information, and the UEsends the eNodeB an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message atstep 550 and stores the access priority information received form theeNodeB in the context of PDN connectivity at step 560. Meanwhile, theeNodeB sends the MME a Bearer Setup Response at step 555. Since theaccess priority information handling procedure of the UE has beendescribed with reference to FIG. 2, detailed description thereof isomitted herein. After receiving the access priority information from thePCRF, the UE enters the idle mode at step 565.

As described in the above embodiment of the present invention, the UEmay determine the access priority depending on when the PDN connectivityinformation received from the network includes the low priorityindicator. It is also possible to determine the priority depending onwhether the PDN connection information includes a low priority indicatoror a normal priority indicator.

The UE also may receive the access priority information per EPS bearerfrom the network. Like the above-described embodiment of configuring theaccess priority per PND connection, the UE may receive the accesspriority information through OMA-DM or the access priority checked bythe MME or PCRF.

In the first embodiment for the network to configure the access priorityinformation to the UE per EPS bearer, a home operator may configure aQoS Class Identifier (QCI) Reference Value in the UE through OMA-DM. TheUE may determine the access priority by comparing the QCI ReferenceValue and the QCI value in the Attach Request.

For example, if the QCI value of the EPS bearer for connection is lessthan the QCI Reference Value configured through OMA-DM, the UE mayclassify the priority of the corresponding connection into low priority.If the CQI value of the EPS bearer for connection is greater than theQCI Reference Value, the UE may classify the priority of thecorresponding connection into normal priority.

In another embodiment of configuring the access priority through theOMA-DM, it is possible to configure an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)value in addition to the QCI value or configure both the CQI and ARPvalues into Reference Value.

In the second embodiment for the network to configure the accesspriority information to the UE per EPS bearer, the MME may check theaccess priority of the EPS bearer generated according to the subscriberinformation of the UE and/or the operator policy in the EPS bearerestablishment procedure. That is, the connection establishment procedurebetween the UE and the network is identical with that as described withreference to FIG. 2, and the MME checks the access priority of the UEper EPS bearer other than PDN connection.

The MME stores the determined access priority as the bearer context andsends the UE the access priority information. The UE stores the receivedaccess priority information as the bearer context of the established EPSbearer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the bearer context of the UE according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the context isstored per EPS bearer in the PDN connection, and the access priorityfield 610 is included in the context. The access priority field 610indicates the network access allowance 620 of the low priority UE.

In the third embodiment for the network to configure the access priorityinformation to the UE per EPS bearer, the PCRF may check the accesspriority of the UE based on the subscriber information of the UE and/orthe operator policy in response to the IP-CAN Session Establishment orModification Request received from the UE via the eNodeB, MME, SGW, andPGW.

The PDN connection establishment between the UE and the network isidentical with that of FIG. 5, and the PCRF checks and transmit theaccess priority of the UE per EPS bearer other than PDN connection.

The PCRF sends the PGW the determined access priority, and the PGWforwards the access priority to the MME via the SGW. The MME stores theaccess priority information in the bearer context of the MME and sendsthe access priority information to the UE. The UE stores the accesspriority information as the context of the generated EPS bearer.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention,the UE may determine the access priority depending on whether EPS bearerinformation includes the low priority indicator. It is also possible todetermine the priority by checking whether the EPS bearer informationincludes a low priority indicator or a normal priority indicator.

The UE may receive the access priority information configured per IPflow. In the case that the network configures the access priority per IPflow, the home operator or the PCRF may send the UE the configurationinformation through OMA-DM.

In the first embodiment for the network to configure the access priorityinformation to the UE per IP flow, the home operator may configure apacket filter or TFT including access priority in the UE through OMA-DM.The UE may configure the access priority per IP flow based on theconfiguration value.

In the second embodiment for the network to configure the accesspriority information to the UE per IP flow, if the UE requests forIP-CAN Session Establishment or Modification via eNodeB, MME, SGW, andPGW, the PCRF may check the access priority based on the subscriberinformation of the UE and/or operator policy. The PDN connectionestablishment procedure between the UE and the network is identical withthe procedure described with reference to FIG. 5, and the PCRF checksand transmits the access priority of the UE per IP flow other than PDNconnection.

The PCRF stores the determined access priority in a packet filterstructure and sends the PGW the access priority. The PGW forwards theaccess priority to the MME via the SGW. The MME stores the accesspriority in the context within the MME and sends the UE the accesspriority. The UE receives the access priority in the form of a packetfilter or TFT and stores the access priority as a context.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a format of a packet filter includingthe access priority information according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 7, the access priority informationincludes N packet filters information from the packet filter identifier1 710 to the packet filter identifier N 720 and N access priorityinformation 725 from the access priority for filter 1 715 to the accesspriority for filter N 725.

As described above, any data to be transmitted to the network occursafter the receipt of the access priority information from the network,the UE sends the network an Attach Request based on the stored accesspriority information. Descriptions are made of the data transmissionprocedure of the UE based on the access priority information and thedata processing procedure of the network hereinafter.

If any data to be transmitted occurs after the UE has stored thereceived access priority information and entered the idle mode, itdetermines whether the data to be transmitted belongs to 1) which PDNconnection or 2) which EPS bearer or 3) which packet filter depending onwhen the access priority is configured 1) per PDN connection or 2) perEPS bearer or 3) for IP flows and sends the network a Attach Requestincluding the data and the access priority information corresponding tothe data.

According to the above-described embodiments of the present invention,the access priority information transmitted by the UE may include a lowpriority indicator or not. According to another embodiment of thepresent invention, the access priority information transmitted by the UEmay include a low priority indicator or normal priority indicator. Thatis, the UE may send the network the Attach Request including the accesspriority information with or without the low priority indicator or withthe normal priority indicator.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the UE to transmitdata based on the access priority information according to an embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the UE is in the idle state after storing thereceived access priority information at step 810. At step 815, any datato be transmitted to the network occur in the UE. For example, anapplication installed in the UE generates data.

The UE checks the PDN connection, EPS bearer, or the packet filter towhich the data to be transmitted belongs at step 820. The UE checks theaccess priority of the PDN connection, EPS bearer, or packet filter towhich the data belongs at step 825.

If the access priority is the low priority, the UE transmits an RRCConnection Establishment message including the low priority indicatoralong with a NAS message at step 830. If the access priority is thenormal priority, the UE transmits the RRC Connection Establishmentmessage indicating the normality priority, i.e. without the low priorityindicator or with the normal priority indicator, along with the NASmessage. The message transmitted from the UE to the network may be amessage for other purpose as well as the Attach Request message.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the network toprocess the message transmitted by the UE based on the access priorityinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theembodiment of FIG. 9 is directed to the procedure performed by the MMEamong the network entities.

Referring to FIG. 9, the MME receives an Attach Request form the UE atstep 910. At this time, the UE may be in the idle mode as described withreference to FIG. 8. The MME compares the access priority informationtransmitted by the UE with the subscriber information stored in the HSSand/or the operator policy stored in the MME at step 915.

In detail, the subscriber information is stored in the HSS andtransferred from the HSS to the MME in the initial attach procedure ofthe UE. As described above, the subscriber information may include theaccess priority determined for the UE. That is, the subscriberinformation may include the information on whether attach to the networkis allowed with the corresponding access priority.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a format of the access priorityinformation stored in the HSS according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 10, the subscriber information of the UEwhich is stored in the HSS may include the access priority field 1010.The access priority field 1010 indicates the network access allowance1020 of the low priority UE. The access priority field 1010corresponding to the access priority information stored in the contextof the MME and UE as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6.

Returning to FIG. 9, if the access priority information transmitted bythe UE matches the subscriber information and/or operator policy at step920, the MME accepts the Attach Request of the UE at step 925. Otherwiseif the informations mismatch each other at step 920, the MME rejects theAttach Request of the UE at step 930.

For example, if the UE configured with low priority for specific APNrequests for Attach with a normal priority for a certain reason, the MMErejects the Attach request. However, If the UE configured with the lowpriority for specific APN requests for Attach with the low priority, theMME accepts the Attach request and performs the attach procedure withthe UE.

The UE configured with the low priority, i.e. the UE which hasestablished a low priority PDN connection with the current network, mayattempt transmitting normal priority data.

In this case, the UE may change the low priority PDN connection fornormal priority PDN connection, i.e. transmit a NAS message request foroverriding to the network, and the network accepts or rejects therequest form the UE depending on whether the APN configured to thecurrent PDN connection is available for overriding to the normalpriority.

In the case of rejecting the request form the UE, the network sends theUE a reject message including a cause value notifying the reject causein response to the NAS message request. The UE detaches from the networkor maintain the low priority depending on the cause value of the rejectmessage. The operations to be performed by the UE may be indicated inthe reject message or configured in the UE. The network may perform anetwork initiated detach procedure at the same time of transmitting thereject message to the UE.

As described above, the network entity controlling the low priority andnormal priority of the UE may be MME or PCRF depending on the embodimentof the present invention.

The MME may receive the subscriber information (subscription data) ofthe UE from the HSS, and the subscriber information may include thefollowing informations as the change information related to theoverriding of the UE.

(1) whether UE can use normal priority

(2) whether APN support low priority

(3) whether APN supporting low priority can be used with normalpriority, i.e. whether overriding is possible (when overriding to thenormal priority, it is possible to define APN-AMBER value of normalpriority.)

This can be described as follows.

The subscriber information (subscription data) transmitted by the HSSmay include the following indication or description to include the lowpriority and low priority overriding-related content.

That is, the APN-configuration Attribute-Value Pair (AVP) in the APNConfiguration Profile AVP as a sub AVP of the subscriber information AVPmay further include two new AVPs (i.e. Low priority indication AVP andLow priority overriding flag AVP) proposed in the present invention.

Here, the Low priority indication AVP indicates whether thecorresponding APN supports low priority, and the Low priority overridingflag AVP indicates whether the corresponding APN supports switching tothe normal priority, i.e. overriding, when the APN supports the lowpriority. In the case that the low priority overriding is supported forthe corresponding APN, it is possible to define the APN-AMBR for use inoverriding to the normal priority separately.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an APN-configuration AVP defined newlyin the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11, the Low priorityindication 1110 indicating whether the APN supports the low priority,the Low priority overriding flag 1120 indicating whether the APNsupports overriding to the normal priority, and the APN-AMBR for normalpriority 1130 configured for the normal priority are added as describedabove.

The MME or PCRF may determine whether to override the low priority PDNconnection to the normal priority connection according to the request ofthe UE based on the above information.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the MME toprocessing the overriding request of the UE.

Referring to FIG. 12, the MME receives a NAS message for changing thecurrent low priority PDN for the normal priority from the UE at step1210. Next, the MME checks the subscriber information of the UE at step1215. The subscriber information includes the aforementioned changeinformation, i.e. whether the user is capable of transmitting data withnormal priority, whether the APN support the low priority, and whetherthe APN supports overriding.

The MME determines whether the UE is allowed for use of the normalpriority based on the subscriber information of the UE at step 1220. Ifthe UE is not allowed for use of the normal priority, the MME sends theUE a reject message with a cause value at step 1235. The MME may performan operation depending on the cause value.

If the UE is allowed for use of the normal priority at step 1220, theMME determines whether determines whether the APN supports overridingbased on the UE's subscriber information stored in the HSS at step 1225.If the APN supports overriding, the MME accepts the change request ofthe UE and changes the current low priority PDN connection to the normalpriority at step 1230. If the APN does not support overriding at step1225, the MME sends the UE a reject message at step 1235. The rejectmessage includes a cause value, and the MME performs an operationdepending on the cause value.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for the UE to operatedepending on the response received from the network in reply to theoverriding request. In the embodiment of FIG. 13, the network entityhandling the request of the UE may be an MME.

Referring to FIG. 13, the UE is in the state of having established lowpriority PDN connection with the network at step 1310. If any normalpriority data to be transmitted to the network occurs at step 1315, theUE sends the network a NAS message for changing the current low priorityPDN connection to the normal priority at step 1320.

If an overriding accept message is received from the network, i.e. MMEat step 1325, the UE changes the current low priority PDN connection forthe normal priority PDN connection at step 1330. Otherwise if a rejectmessage is received, the UE performs an operation depending on the causevalue of the reject message at step 1335.

If the UE in use of the low priority PDN connection transmits a normalpriority PDN Connectivity Request, the MME forwards the request to thePGW, and the PGW may store the information.

In detail, if the low priority UE transmits the normal priority PDNConnectivity Request, the MME may sends the PGW a PND connectionestablishment message (e.g. Create Session Request) including at leastone of the following informations.

(1) normal priority indicator received from UE

(2) normal priority indicator generated by MME after checking normalpriority request

(3) low priority overriding indicator included in subscriber informationof UE

(4) omission of low priority indicator included in legacy low priorityPEA connection establishment message

Particularly in (4), if the low priority indicator is omitted in the PDNconnection establishment message, the PGW may regard this as normalpriority PDN Connectivity Request.

The POW may store the above information for use in generating thebilling data for normal priority PDN connection or access control.

FIG. 14 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a normal priority datatransmission in the state that the UE has established a low priority PDNconnection with the network.

In detail, FIG. 14 is shows a situation in which the UE transmits a NASmessage including the normal priority indicator for changing the lowpriority PDN connection for the normal priority PDN connection and thenthe MME determining whether to accept the overriding based on thesubscriber information of the UE. The PCRF and HSS that do notparticipate in the overriding procedure of the UE are omitted in thedrawing.

Referring to FIG. 14, a low priority PDN connection is establishedbetween the UE and the network at step 1410. If any data to betransmitted with the normal priority occurs at the UE at step 1415, theUE sends the MME a TAU request including the normal priority indicatorat step 1420.

The MME checks the UE's subscriber information stored in the HSS todetermine whether to accept the overriding at step 1425 and sends theSGW a Modify Bearer Request including the normal priority indicator atstep 1430. The SGW forwards the Modify Bearer Request to the PGW at step1435, and the PGW stores the normal priority indicator for use inbilling at step 1440.

Next, the POW sends the SGW the Modify Bearer Response at step 1445, andthe SGW forwards the Modify Bearer Response to the MME at step 1450. TheMME sends the UE a TAU Accept or Reject depending on the subscriberinformation of the UE at step 1455.

Although the embodiment of FIG. 14 is directed to the case where the NASmessage transmitted from the UE to the MME is the TAU Request, other NASmessages may be used. Although the embodiment of the present inventionis directed to the case where the MME sends the PGW the Modify BearerRequest message as a message for changing the PDN connection, othermessages may be used. The messages used in the embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to the legacy message formats butdefined as new RRC/NAS messages.

Meanwhile, the overriding request of the UE may be processed by the PCRFin the stead of the MME and, in this case, the PCRF receives theconnection change request transmitted by the UE and determines whetherto change the low priority PDN connection to the normal priority PDNconnection based on any of the information received from the HSS (e.g.subscriber information of the UE) and the information it has orcombination of these information. If the message including the normalpriority indicator is received from the PCRF, the PGW stores the normalpriority information for use in billing.

In the case of being required to transmit normal priority data in thestate that the low priority PDN connection has been established with thenetwork, the UE may detach the current PDN connection, instead ofoverriding as described above, and then establish a normal priority PDNconnection.

FIG. 15 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a procedure for the UE toestablish a new PDN connection with the network for transmitting normalpriority data.

Referring to FIG. 15, the UE and the network establish a low priorityconnection at step 1510. If normal priority data is generated by anyapplication installed in the UE, the UE performs a process of releasingthe low priority PDN connection at step 1520.

Next, the UE sends the network, i.e. MME, a NAS message of attachrequest including a normal priority indicator as access priorityinformation at step 1525. The MME checks the subscriber informationincluded in the HSS to verify allowance for normal priority datatransmission at step 1530 and sends the SGW a Create Session Requestincluding the normal priority indicator at step 1535. The SGW forwardsthe Create Session Request including the normal priority indicator tothe PGW at step 1540, and the PGW stores the normal priority indicatorin association with the current PDN connection for use in billing atstep 1540.

Afterward, the PGW sends the MME a Creation Session Response via the SGWat steps 1550 and 1555, and the MME sends the UE an attach accept orreject in response to the normal priority PDN Connectivity Requestdepending on the check result of the UE's subscriber information at step1560. The attach reject may include a cause value which indicates theoperation to be taken by the UE, e.g. detach from the network.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a datatransmission apparatus, i.e. UE, according to the present invention.Referring to FIG. 16, the UE may include a radio communication unit1610, a control unit 1620, and a storage unit 1630.

The radio communication unit 1610 is responsible for transmitting andreceiving data and message to and from the network. Particularly in anembodiment of the present invention, the radio communication unit 1610may transmit messages and data such as connection request and connectionchange request to the network under the control of the control unit1620. The radio communication unit 1610 also may receive the data suchas access priority information transmitted by the network.

The control unit 1620 performs the procedure for the UE to transmit thenormal priority data to the network according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. In detail, the control unit 1620 generates andtransmits an attach request to the network for acquiring the accesspriority information of the UE from the network and stores the accesspriority information received form the network in the storage unit 1630.

If any data to be transmitted occurs at the UE, the control unit 1620checks the access priority information corresponding to the data andtransmits the data to the network depending on the access priorityinformation. If the data is the normal priority data, the control unit1620 transmits the data without the low priority indicator or with thenormal priority indicator.

If any normal priority data occurs in the state that the UE hasestablished the low priority PDN connection with the network, thecontrol unit 1620 may perform a procedure of changing the low priorityPDN connection for the normal priority PDN connection. The connectionchange procedure is performed as described in the above embodiment, andthe control unit 1620 performs an operation in match with the changerequest accept or reject.

The storage unit 1630 stores the above described access priorityinformation in addition to the UE-related informations associated withthe conventional technology, and the access priority information is usedin data transmission of the UE.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a dataprocessing apparatus, i.e. MME of network entities, according to thepresent inventions. Referring to FIG. 17, the MME may include aninterface unit 1710, a control unit 1720, and a storage unit 1730.

The interface unit 1710 is responsible for transmitting and receivingsignals and data to and from other network entities under the control ofthe control unit 1720. The control unit 1720 performs the operations ofconfiguring access priority to the UE and processing data received fromthe UE according to the above-described embodiment.

In detail, if an attach request is received from the UE, the controlunit 1720 may check the access priority information of the UE based onthe subscriber information and determine whether to accept the datatransmission based on the subscriber in the case that the UE transmitsthe data along with the access priority information.

If the UE transmits a request for changing the low priority PDNconnection for the normal priority PDN connection, the control unit 1720may determine whether to accept the change, i.e. overriding, based onthe subscriber information of the UE.

The storage unit 1730 may store the UE's subscriber information providedby the HSS and/or preconfigured operator policy, the stored subscriberinformation and/or operator policy may be used in determining whether toaccept the data transmission or connection change of the UE.

It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change ormodify the embodiments without departing the technical concept of thisinvention. Accordingly, it should be understood that above-describedembodiments are essentially for illustrative purpose only but not in anyway for restriction thereto. Thus the scope of the invention should bedetermined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents ratherthan the specification, and various alterations and modifications withinthe definition and scope of the claims are included in the claims.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been describedusing specific terms, the specification and drawings are to be regardedin an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense in order to helpunderstand the present invention. It is obvious to those skilled in theart that various modifications and changes can be made thereto withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.

1-34. (canceled)
 35. A method for transmitting low priority data to anetwork, the method comprising: receiving, by a terminal, configurationinformation for a first priority for data transmission and a secondpriority for data transmission; transmitting, by the terminal, a firstpriority data using a first priority connection based on theconfiguration information; transmitting, by the terminal, if a secondpriority data to be transmitted occurs, a change request for changingthe first priority connection to a second priority connection based onthe configuration information; receiving, by the terminal, a responsefor the second priority connection from the network; and transmitting,by the terminal, the second priority data using the second priorityconnection.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the configurationinformation is determined per packet data network (PDN) connectionbetween the terminal and the network, per an evolved packet system (EPS)bearer, or per internet protocol (IP) flow.
 37. The method of claim 35,wherein the first priority data is low priority data, and the secondpriority data is normal priority data.
 38. The method of claim 35,wherein the transmitting the first priority data comprises: checking apriority corresponding to the first priority data based on theconfiguration information; and transmitting, when the prioritycorresponding to the first priority data is the first priority, aconnection request for the first priority connection.
 39. The method ofclaim 35, further comprising performing, when the response is a rejectresponse, an operation depending on content of the reject response,wherein the operation dependent on the content of the reject response isone of detaching from the network and maintaining the first priorityconnection.
 40. A method for processing low priority data, the methodcomprising: transmitting, to a terminal, configuration information for afirst priority for data transmission and a second priority for datatransmission; receiving, from the terminal, a first priority data usinga first priority connection based on the configuration information;receiving, from the terminal, a change request for changing the firstpriority connection to a second priority connection; determining whetherthe change to the second priority connection is allowable based on theconfiguration information of the terminal; transmitting, when the changeto the second priority connection is allowable, a response for thesecond priority connection to the terminal; and receiving, from theterminal, a second priority data using the second priority connection.41. The method of claim 40, wherein the configuration information isdetermined per packet data network (PDN) connection between the terminaland a network, per an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer, or perinternal protocol (IP) flow.
 42. The method of claim 40, wherein thereceiving the first priority data comprises: receiving a connectionrequest for the first priority connection from the terminal; checkingwhether the configuration information included in the connection requestmatches at least one of subscriber information of the terminal and anoperator policy; and transmitting, when the configuration informationincluded in the connection request matches the at least one ofsubscriber information and the operator policy, a response for the firstpriority connection to the terminal.
 43. The method of claim 40, whereinthe first priority data is low priority data, and the second prioritydata is normal priority data.
 44. The method of claim 40, wherein theconfiguration information comprises at least one of whether the terminalis capable of transmitting the second priority data, whether an accesspriority network (APN) delivering a connection request of the terminalsupports the first priority connection, and whether the APN supportschanging the first priority connection for the second priorityconnection.
 45. An apparatus for transmitting data to a network, theapparatus comprising: a radio communication unit configured to transmitand receive a signal; a control unit configured to control: receivingconfiguration information for a first priority for data transmission anda second priority for data transmission; transmitting a first prioritydata using a first priority connection based on the configurationinformation; transmitting, if a second priority data to be transmittedoccurs, a change request for changing the first priority connection to asecond priority connection based on the configuration information;receiving a response for the second priority connection from thenetwork; and transmitting the second priority data using the secondpriority connection.
 46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein theconfiguration information is determined per packet data network (PDN)connection between a terminal and the network, per an evolved packetsystem (EPS) bearer, or per internet protocol (IP) flow.
 47. Theapparatus of claim 45, wherein the first priority data is low prioritydata, and the second priority data is normal priority data.
 48. Theapparatus of claim 45, wherein the control unit is configured to check apriority corresponding to the first priority data based on theconfiguration information and control transmitting, when the prioritycorresponding to the first priority data is the first priority, aconnection request for the first priority connection.
 49. The apparatusof claim 45, wherein the control unit is configured to perform anoperation depending on content of a reject response, when the responseis a reject response, wherein the operation dependent on the content ofthe reject response is one of detaching from the network and maintainingthe first priority connection.
 50. An apparatus for processing datareceived from a terminal configured to transmit low priority data, theapparatus comprising: an interface unit configured to transmit andreceive a signal; and a control unit configured to control:transmitting, to the terminal, configuration information for a firstpriority for data transmission and a second priority for datatransmission; receiving, from the terminal, a first priority data usinga first priority connection based on the configuration information;receiving a connection request for changing the first priorityconnection to a second priority connection; determining whether thechange to the second priority connection is allowable based on theconfiguration information of the terminal; transmitting, when the changeto the second priority connection is allowable, a response for thesecond priority connection to the terminal; and receiving, from theterminal, a second priority data using the second priority connection.51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the configuration information isdetermined per packet data network (PDN) connection between the terminaland a network, per an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer, or perinternet protocol (IP) flow.
 52. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to control receiving a connection request forthe first priority connection from the terminal, checking whether theconfiguration information included in the connection request matches atleast one of subscriber information of the terminal and an operatorpolicy, and transmitting, when the configuration information included inthe connection request matches the at least one of subscriberinformation and the operator policy, a response for the first priorityconnection to the terminal.
 53. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein thefirst priority data is low priority data, and the second priority datais normal priority data.
 54. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein theconfiguration information comprises at least one of whether the terminalis capable of transmitting the second priority data, whether an accesspriority network (APN) delivering a connection request of the terminalsupports the first priority connection, and whether the APN supportschanging the first priority connection for the second priorityconnection.